When Does Life Begin

10 – Buck v. Bell, 274 US 200 (1927)

FACTS:

Carrie Buck was a feeble minded woman who was committed to a state mental institution. Her
condition had been present in her family for the last three generations. A Virginia law allowed for the
sexual sterilization of inmates of institutions to promote the "health of the patient and the welfare of
society." Before the procedure could be performed, however, a hearing was required to determine
whether or not the operation was a wise thing to do.

ISSUE:
Whether the Virginia statute, which authorized the sterilization, deny Buck the right to due process of
the law and the equal protection of the laws as protected by the Fourteenth Amendment?

HELD:
NO. The Court found that the statute did not violate the Constitution. Justice Holmes made clear that
Buck's challenge was not upon the medical procedure involved but on the process of the substantive
law. Since sterilization could not occur until a proper hearing had occurred (at which the patient and a
guardian could be present) and after the Circuit Court of the County and the Supreme Court of Appeals
had reviewed the case, if so requested by the patient. Only after "months of observation" could the
operation take place. That was enough to satisfy the Court that there was no Constitutional violation.
Citing the best interests of the state, Justice Holmes affirmed the value of a law like Virginia's in order to
prevent the nation from "being swamped with incompetence . . . Three generations of imbeciles are
enough."